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NIST scientist killed after winds send branch his windshield north of Boulder

Victim ID'd as James Baker-Jarvis

By Mitchell Byars, Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
12/31/2011 11:32:49 AM MST

Updated:
01/01/2012 09:08:27 AM MST

Rescuers and sheriff s deputies investigate an incident on U.S. Highway 36 near Lefthand Canyon Drive after a tree limb smashed through a windshield of a Subaru, killing James Baker-Jarvis on Saturday. Photo by Joshua Buck, Longmont Times Call.

A Lyons man was killed Saturday afternoon when high winds caused a tree branch to fly through the windshield of his car as he drove up North Foothills Highway, impaling him.

The driver, identified as James Baker-Jarvis, 61, was driving a Subaru Outback along North Foothills Highway near Lefthand Canyon Drive at around 12:17 p.m. Saturday when a branch about 3 feet in length and 3 inches in diameter flew through his windshield, according to Sgt. Mike Baker of the Colorado State Patrol.

Baker-Jarvis was transported to Boulder Community Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Baker-Jarvis' wife, Karen, was also in the car but was not injured.

Karen Baker-Jarvis said she and her husband were driving back from a trip into Boulder to their home north of Lyons when a branch snapped off a tree and came through the windshield, striking James in the chest.

Karen Baker-Jarvis said just before her husband lost consciousness he was able to bring the car to a stop and pull over on the side of the road, saving her from any injury.

The couple and their son and daughter first moved to the Boulder area in 1989 after James Baker-Jarvis got a job as a theoretical physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. But Karen Baker-Jarvis said the allure of the mountains and streams in Boulder were a big reason they decided to move to the area.

“He loved to be outside,” Karen Baker-Jarvis said. “He was kind of a mountain man. He loved his theoretical work, but sometimes when he needed to wind down he would go into the mountains.”

According to his wife, James Baker-Jarvis was working on a book related to his work and also planned on biking across America at some point.

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